Graduate Programmes

Law Tech & Operations Graduate Programme

Law Tech & Operations Graduate Programme

Find your place in the future of tech.

If you’re not sure where you belong in tech, this is your chance to get exploring and discover how tech can improve our world. Across your rotations you’ll be immersed in an industry that’s new to you, and you’ll make your mark in a tech field that’s new to everyone. 

Tech is now transforming the legal profession. From artificial intelligence to data visualisation, project management tools to data-driven decision making, A&O is leading the way by transforming the services we offer and the ways in which we deliver them. And by streamlining traditional law practices, we’re making legal representation more accessible to everyone.

That’s where our Law Tech & Operations Graduate Programme comes in. You’ll get to see the bigger picture behind tech and legal operational expertise as you work alongside coders, developers, legal project managers, lawyers and clients, and you’ll help bridge the gap between traditional law and the modern world. On your rotations, you’ll drive tech forwards as a project manager, you’ll test new technologies, and you’ll imagine how new tech might solve clients’ problems more efficiently. And along the way, you’ll speak up and share your newfound expertise across the business. 

Eligibility

We’re able to welcome final-year students or graduates from all universities with any degree.

Application window

18 December 2023 - 2 February 2024

Programme Overview

This programme will set you up with the foundation and skills you’ll need for a range of exciting future careers in technology. 

Law Tech & Operations graduates are based in Advanced Delivery & Solutions, where we help clients embrace technological change with alternative solutions, consulting, and strategic advice. You’ll rotate through different teams in A,D&S: our Markets Innovation Group, Legal Project Management, Legal Tech, Practice Transformation Team and Fuse or eDiscovery teams. 

You will also gain experience in different legal practice areas, such as Corporate or International Capital Markets. And by the end of the programme, you’ll have your own expertise in both technology and the legal profession, ready for a unique career.   

On your rotations, you’ll be learning from your expert mentors while making your own impact on live projects. That means you can share your own unique perspective from day one, supporting on client pitches and communicating new technologies and innovative ideas to lawyers and teams across the business. You’ll learn to be the expert in the room, and you’ll play a meaningful role in our transformation, helping us to continuously improve our solutions and service delivery from every angle.

And this could be just the start. When you finish the programme, we’ll aim to help you find a permanent role in the team that best matches your talents, and you’ll be supported to surprise yourself by exploring unexpected futures.

Salary

£37,500 in the first year
£43,000 in the second year

 

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Advanced Delivery & Solutions Explained

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Reasons to join

If you’re fascinated by tech and its potential to make a difference, this programme is for you. Law Tech & Operations cohorts are small and close-knit, so you’ll get individual mentoring and support to discover your niche. And the rotations cover very different teams and ways of working, so you can discover where you fit. 

On this programme, we’ll enhance and modernise traditional law practices together and make legal representation accessible to everyone. Legal Tech is on the frontline of defining what every part of law will look like in the future, and this programme will give you the opportunity to shape it. 

Allen & Overy will also support and fund recognised training and qualifications as you rotate through the tech areas, including project management (PRINCE2), Strategyser and RelativityOne Review Pro. These qualifications could launch your career in tech project management.

COHORT

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Our cohorts are small. By recruiting just four graduates each year, we’re able to offer you real responsibility early on and help you to make a difference on a wide range of important projects. Small cohorts also make it more likely that our graduates will find a permanent role in their chosen area at the end of the programme.

TRAINING

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It doesn’t matter if you’re unsure which area of technology you would like to specialise in. Our two-year programme offers you the opportunity to experience four 6-month rotational seats in a wide variety of areas, equipping you with the technical knowledge, industry awareness and variety of project experience needed to qualify for a future career at Allen & Overy. 

CULTURE

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We’re an established organisation with an entrepreneurial mindset. You’ll work within a start-up-like environment and try something new each day – all while encountering new challenges and problems your managers may not always have the answers to. That’s why we’ll give you the space to think and create new solutions, and help you feel empowered from day one.  

DEVELOP

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This role won’t be focused solely on technology, or a certain niche area or element of the industry. As a result, you’ll be able to gain a variety of transferable skills including project management and consultancy, as well as gain exposure to a broad range of technology.

INNOVATE

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This is the perfect opportunity for someone with the ambition to be part of something from the very beginning. Law Tech is a new industry, and you will be given a unique opportunity to innovate your career and make your mark on an evolving area in its infancy.

What we look for

To modernise the legal profession, we need ambitious grads who are curious about emerging tech. That means you don’t need to have experience in law for this programme: we’ll help you learn. 

What matters is your curiosity, which will drive you to research and understand the tech in detail, and your passion, which will help you confidently communicate what you’ve found in reports and presentations. Your process-oriented mind will help you understand every step of these exciting, fast-moving projects, and your organisational skills will help you keep projects on track towards success. 

That’s why we welcome applicants from all universities with any degree. A STEM, Design, or Economics background might help you in this process-oriented role, but whichever subject you studied, curiosity and the confidence to ask questions will help you build a career on the Law Tech & Operations Programme.  

Our academic requirements are AAB (136 UCAS points) or equivalent at A-Level and on track for/achieved a 2:1 undergraduate degree. We take mitigating circumstances into account, including those relating to a disability, which may have affected your grades either at school or university, and there is a space on the application form for you to include these.

We expect those successful in securing positions on this graduate scheme to be fully committed to the two-year programme. Please note that for business continuity reasons, we cannot accept applications from participants for vacation schemes or to transfer to any other graduate programme internally.

Working in Law Tech & Operations

This programme is on the frontline of defining what every part of law will look like in the future and will give you the opportunity to shape it. 

Application Process

The application process is designed to give you a platform to show us what you’re capable of and to set you up for success at Allen & Overy.  

1. Online Application

This is your time to show us what you’re capable of. We are interested in your journey to date, your areas of interest and in particular, why this role appeals to you. In this stage, you will answer two short essay questions and detail your work and education history.

2. Interviews

If your online application is successful, the next stage will be a virtual Assessment Day composed of two one-on-one interviews.

The first interview will be on a case study, focused on the type of work you will be exposed to in this role. You will have time to work through a short brief and prepare a short presentation to deliver to your interviewer. This will be followed by a discussion on the key points from the case study.

In the second interview, you will be asked a series of questions based on scenarios you may encounter as a Law Tech & Operations graduate.

Then & Now

Our A&O Lawyers all started from somewhere. From all kinds of backgrounds. Through every stage of their life, from personal to professional and the challenges along the way, our lawyers look back on the journeys that got them where they are today.